Ingenious Films Partners 2 LLP v HMRC

Highlights

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The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has recently handed down its judgment in the high publicity case of Ingenious Films Partners 2 LLP (IFP2) v HMRC. While it was not an outright victory for HMRC, the success of IFP2 on some points may prove pyrrhic. Ultimately, when interest is included on late tax, most partners are expected to have to repay the bulk, if not all, of the purported tax saving. The appeal concerned three partnerships, Inside Track Productions LLP (ITP), Ingenious Film partners 2 LLP (IFP2), and Ingenious Games (IG). These three partnerships were lead cases in relation to a further five Ingenious LLPs. Between them, the LLPs claimed tax losses of £1.6 billion and the tax plus interest at stake was £1 billion.

The judgment itself came in at a hefty 350 pages which is one of the longest FTT judgments. This in itself makes reporting the details difficult so, in our detailed note, we focus on IFP2 which was by far the largest LLP.

The issues being appealed were common to all three LLPs and although there were some variations in what the LLPs actually did, focusing on IFP2 should not detract from the whole. Where there was a materially different point for IG or ITP, we have mentioned it. And we have focussed on what we consider the main points.